Ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment by the Florida Legislature, 1969

From: Acts of the Territorial Legislature and Acts of the Legislature 1822-Present, Series S 222

About This Document

The movement for women's rights in the
United States truly began in July 1848 with the Seneca Falls Convention. About
240 people attended the meeting, which had been organized by Lucretia Mott and
Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The attendees drafted the Seneca Falls Declaration of
Sentiments, which listed grievances, and a series of resolutions, which called
for specific reforms. Ironically, a resolution advocating women's suffrage barely
passed, because many delegates believed it to be too radical. The suffrage movement
grew slowly during the rest of the 1800s, partly because of the existence of
several rival organizations. In 1890, the different organizations united to
form the National American Woman Suffrage Association. During the Progressive
Era, support for women's suffrage increased, and a number of individual states
adopted full voting rights for women. After avoiding the issue for several years,
President Woodrow Wilson moved to support women's suffrage, and the Nineteenth
Amendment would pass the congress in 1919, and be ratified the following year.

Florida was not one of the states that
ratified the Nineteenth Amendment during 1919-1920. In fact, neither house of
the Florida legislature had even voted on the measure. Though the legislature
would pass a law in 1921 that provided the vote to all residents, it was not
until 1969 that it symbolically ratified the Nineteenth Amendment. Reproduced
here is the text of Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 1172, which was passed
by Florida's Senate and House of Representatives on May 13, 1969, and approved
on May 22 without the signature of Governor Claude Kirk.

Transcript

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 1172 A concurrent
resolution ratifying the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States relating to the right of all citizens to vote

WHEREAS, the Congress of the United States of America in both houses
by a constitutional majority of two-thirds thereof has amended the Constitution
of the United States in the following words:

"Senate Joint Resolution proposing an amend- ment to the Constitution
of the United States relating to the right of all citizens to vote.

"Resolved by the Senate and House of Represen- tatives of the United
states of America in Congress Assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring
there- in), that the following article is proposed as an amendment to
the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents
and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legis- latures
of three-fourths of the several States with- in seven years of its submission
by the Congress:

AMENDMENT XIX "The right of the citizens of the United States to vote
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on
account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
NOW, THEREFORE,

Florida Memory is funded under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, administered by the Florida Department of State, Division of Library and Information Services.